Our schools are places of learning that are supposed to be safe and healthy for our students and staff. School safety was in the news this summer after the shooting at Annunciation and is in the news once again as the Department of Homeland Security deployed 3,000 ICE agents into our communities.
We were told that ICE’s presence in our communities was to go after the worse of the worst and to investigate fraud. Their mission has warped beyond that and is directly impacting our student’s education as well as their mental health. Parents and students are speaking up. You can see the coverage from a press conference our parents and community members held outside of Aquila Elementary in St. Louis Park following an ICE operation across the street from the school. Teachers had to keep the blinds closed in order to shield their students. You can see the coverage of the press conference here.
In 2023, we invested money in our K-12 system to support our student’s mental health by increasing school counselors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists in our schools. And, just when we saw our students’ mental health improve, actions from ICE are taking us a step backwards. From storming onto the grounds and deploying tear gas at Roosevelt High School to taking a child’s parent away at a bus stop in front of a busload of students, ICE’s actions are subjecting our students to unnecessary fear and violence.
ICE does not belong in our schools, on school grounds, or at our bus stops. As the Co-Chair for the House Education Finance Committee, I joined my DFL Co-Vice Chair and the DFL Co-Chair and Co-Vice Chair of the House Education Policy Committee in a statement about ICE in our schools. I did reach out to our House GOP Co-Chair/Co-Vice Chair colleagues, but they were not ready to join us in a statement at this time.
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